Houston Texans clinch title with sixth straight win

Monday

Dec 3, 2012 at 6:00 AM

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Texans 24, Titans 10: Houston clinched its second straight playoff berth with the victory at Tennessee and set a franchise record for wins in a season.

Rookie linebacker Whitney Mercilus recovered a fumble and had two sacks as the Texans (11-1) won their sixth straight and remained tied with Atlanta for the best record in the NFL. After needing overtime the past two games, the Texans forced six turnovers, which they turned into 10 points. They sacked Jake Locker six times and batted down a handful of other passes.

The Texans swept Tennessee (4-8), the team they replaced in Houston, for only the second time. Matt Schaub threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns, and Arian Foster ran for a TD.

The Titans’ new offensive coordinator, Dowell Loggains, made his debut, but they didn’t help him out much as receivers repeatedly dropped balls.

Broncos 31, Buccaneers 23: Peyton Manning threw three touchdowns, including one to defensive tackle Mitch Unrein, to help the Denver wrap up the AFC West with a home win.

The Broncos (9-3) won their seventh straight and the loss by Tampa Bay (6-6) clinched the NFC South for Atlanta, which won on Thursday.

Manning threw for 242 yards. He now has 29 touchdown passes this season, moving past Jake Plummer and John Elway for the most by a Denver quarterback in a single year.

Manning threw two of the scores to Demaryius Thomas, who finished with eight catches for 99 yards.

Broncos linebacker Von Miller returned an interception for his first NFL score.

The Broncos held Tampa running back Doug Martin to 56 yards on 18 carries.

Rams 16, 49ers 13: St. Louis rookie Greg Zuerlein kicked a 54-yard field goal with 26 seconds left in overtime at San Francisco after booting a 53-yarder as time expired in regulation. The overtime score avoided a second tie in three weeks against the NFC West leaders.

The Rams (5-6-1) scored twice in the final 3:04 of regulation, getting their lone touchdown when rookie Janoris Jenkins returned an errant pitchout by Colin Kaepernick 2 yards for a score. They’ve won two straight after an 0-4-1 skid.

The 49ers (8-3-1) failed to take advantage in overtime of rookie Johnny Hekker’s 14-yard punt to midfield. David Akers was barely wide right on an ensuing 51-yard attempt with 4:11 left in overtime. Akers is just 7 for 15 from 40 yards and beyond.

Zuerlein is 7 for 11 from the 50 and beyond and had plenty of distance on the kick on fourth-and-inches. Before the 53-yarder at the end of regulation, he had missed four of his previous seven attempts.

Jets 7, Cardinals 6: Third-stringer Greg McElroy stepped in for a struggling Mark Sanchez and energized New York to a home win.

With Tim Tebow inactive as he heals from two broken ribs, coach Rex Ryan pulled Sanchez for McElroy — as the crowd at MetLife Stadium cheered wildly — late in the third quarter. McElroy led the (5-7) Jets to their only points of the day with an impressive drive, connecting with Jeff Cumberland on a 1-yard touchdown pass. That ended up being the winning score.

Fans chanted “Mc-El-roy!” throughout the first three quarters as Sanchez went 10 for 21 for 97 yards and three interceptions.

While the Jets’ quarterback situation is unclear, the sagging Cardinals (4-8) have their own troubles at the position. Ryan Lindley was ineffective in his second NFL start and Arizona lost its eighth straight game after a 4-0 start.

Seahawks 23, Bears 17: Russell Wilson connected with Sidney Rice on a 13-yard touchdown with 7:33 left in overtime for Seattle.

Unbeaten in five home games, the Seahawks finally figured a way to win on the road after dropping five of their first six. They knocked off the NFC North leaders in the process.

This one sure was dramatic.

Seattle took a short-lived lead late in regulation on Wilson’s 14-yard pass to Golden Tate, but the Bears’ Robbie Gould booted a 46-yard field goal as time expired to send it into OT.

The Seahawks (7-5) got their only other road win at Carolina.

Green Bay 23, Minnesota 14: James Starks had Green Bay’s first rushing touchdown in almost two months and Morgan Burnett picked off Christian Ponder twice as the Packers overcame a monster day by Adrian Peterson for a home win.

Peterson finished with 210 yards, the most he’s had since blowing out his ACL and MCL last December. But the Vikings (6-6) clearly felt the absence of Percy Harvin, who missed his third straight game with a sprained ankle.

Ponder didn’t help matters with his interceptions, one in the end zone and the other around the Green Bay 10. The Packers turned both miscues into field goals, giving them their 10th straight victory against an NFC North opponent.

The Packers (8-4) kept their hopes alive for the division title alive.

Steelers 23, Ravens 20: Pittsburgh’s Shaun Suisham kicked a 42-yard field goal as time expired at Baltimore as the Steelers rallied behind Charlie Batch to shock the Ravens.

Playing without injured quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for a third straight week, the Steelers turned to the 37-year-old Batch for the second game in a row. He went 25 for 36 for 276 yards, threw a touchdown and moved the Steelers 61 yards before Suisham’s game-winning kick.

Pittsburgh trailed 13-3 in the first half and 20-13 in the fourth quarter before coming back.

Pittsburgh (7-5) snapped a two-game losing streak and kept alive its slim hopes of overtaking Baltimore (9-3) in the AFC North. The teams have split their games this season.

The Ravens could have clinched a playoff berth with a victory. Instead, Baltimore had its 15-game home winning streak snapped and also lost for the first time in 13 games against a division foe.

Colts 35, Lions 33: Andrew Luck threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Donnie Avery with no time left to lift visiting Indianapolis to a dramatic comeback win.

With the final seconds ticking away, the rookie quarterback moved up in the pocket, flipped a short pass to Avery, and the receiver ran untouched into the end zone to complete a rally that started with Lions up 12 points midway through the fourth quarter.

The Colts (8-4) stayed in control of the AFC wild-card race with the win. Detroit (4-8) lost for the fourth straight time, including three in a row at home after leading in the final quarter.

Bengals 20, Chargers 13: Andy Dalton scrambled up the middle for a 6-yard touchdown with 4:11 left for the go-ahead score and visiting Cincinnati won its fourth straight game.

On second-and-goal, Dalton pump-faked right and then ran up the middle, dived for the end zone and got the ball across.

The Bengals (7-5) remained tied with Pittsburgh in the race for the AFC’s second wild-card berth.

The Chargers (4-8) lost their fourth straight game and for the seventh time in eight games, and remain only mathematically alive in the wild-card chase.

Fitzpatrick threw two touchdown passes and scored on a 1-yard plunge in providing a spark to an injury-depleted offense that finished the game minus its top two receivers. Starter Stevie Johnson did not return after hurting his left hamstring in the third quarter, while Donald Jones was out due to a calf injury.

Fred Jackson had 101 yards rushing and C.J. Spiller scored on a 44-yard run that put Buffalo (5-7) up, 34-10, early in the fourth quarter.

The Jaguars (2-10), who last week snapped a seven-game skid with 24-19 win over Tennessee, were unable to carry over much momentum. Quarterback Chad Henne scored on a 1-yard run and also completed a 5-yard touchdown pass to Cecil Shorts III.

Browns 20, Raiders 17: Brandon Weeden threw for a career-high 364 yards and a touchdown as Cleveland did just enough to snap a 12-game road losing streak.

Weeden hit fellow rookie Josh Gordon on a 44-yard score in the second quarter and Trent Richardson scored on a 3-yard run after Sheldon Brown made a key interception deep in Cleveland territory when the Raiders (3-9) were driving for the potential tying or go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.